an exciting new chapter begins

More super easy Christmas crafts.

Even after getting a tree and making stockings, it’s hard to keep this Christmasy feeling going when it’s so warm and sunny everyday. It’ll be nice to feel some chill and hopefully have some snow when I go back to Chicago for Christmas. (I’m saying this now fully knowing I will probably regret it once I’m there).

So, in an effort to stay in the spirit, I’ve continued my zero dollar and almost-zero effort approach to Christmas decorations and tried to North Pole up the place with an angel tree topper, snowflakes, and a bit of Christmas cheer on the mantle. We also got those cute and nerdy ornaments from Etsy I was talking about! I’ll tell you more about those in just a sec.

First, Martha helped me make an angel topper out of a paper plate. Her directions seem like they are missing a step and had me looking at my plate pretty perplexed at one point, so I’ll do my best to explain what I did after my aha moment.

She says to print it at 200%, but I was lazy so I just zoomed in about as big as a paper plate and then put my paper plate right on my computer screen to trace the angel onto the plate. Use a pencil and lightly trace.

Cut out the angel and the slits. She says use an exacto knife. I used dull scissors. Remember, one slit starts from the inside and one starts from the outside. It should look like this:

Now here’s the part where I was reading Martha’s instructions and was sure there was something missing. My spatial perception is a bit off. Anyway, what you do is now slightly fold (but not crease) her into the shape of her skirt and attach her wings at the two slits. Trust me, it’ll start to make sense when you start shaping her skirt like this:

Ta-da! You’re done!

Up close, yes, it looks like a kid’s craft made out of a paper plate, which is why I wonder why Martha would suggest using it as a place setting and why all the comments on her site say it looks elegant. It’s a paper plate. But, up on the tree, I think it looks pretty darling.

I cut out some good ole paper snowflakes to put behind the tree as well.

I also set out a bit more holiday decor using things around the house and set that up on the mantle.

That’s just Kosher salt and a battery operated tea light in that martini glass and reused tissue paper from an old Kate Spade purchase in that vase. The leather-like string is from my Style Mint purchase (which I love) and the red one is a bit of fabric leftover from my Christmas stocking project. I used the coasters and gift box to add some variation in height because they were all the same.

But, my favorite piece of Christmas decoration so far is actually one I purchased. Judy Caron’s Etsy shop is full of these adorable dough ornaments she makes. Most of them are different professions and hobbies. So, to commemorate our California State Bar admissions, we got two lawyer ones that say “our names, Esq. 2011″ on the briefcase.

Super nerdy, yes. But, so cute they make me smile every time I see them. I’m excited to make many more memories with R and continue adding to our ornament collection with a new special ornament each year.

[…] If you want to add a little holiday cheer to your house, condo or apartment–in Manhattan it’s called a “live-in closet”–but don’t want to spend a lot, the ever-clever Midwest LA Girl has some great low-cost options. Check out her creative pillowcase stockings and neat paper plate tree topper! […]